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Friday, May 20, 2016

Raleigh Springs Mallis an enclosedshopping mallserving the city ofMemphis, Tennessee,USA. It is located on the north side of Memphis, on Austin Peay Hwy. just north ofInterstate 40. Opened in 1971 as one of the city's first two shopping malls (the other beingSouthland Mall),owned and managed by Angela Whichard, Inc., Raleigh Springs Mall originally featured about seventy stores later to be remodeled and feature a twelve-screenmultiplex, with four anchor stores, formerly occupied bySears,JCPenney,Goldsmith'sandDillard's. The theater closed in December 2011, Sears closed in April 2011, and the other three anchors closed in 2003.

Sign for the Mall

History:

Center Court In Front of Goldsmith's Entrance

Raleigh Springs Mall opened in 1971. Developed by the Edward J. DeBartolo corporation (now known asSimon Property Group)as one of the first two malls in the Memphis area, it featured four major anchor stores: national chains JC Penney and Sears, as well as local chains Lowenstein's (which was sold toDillard'sin 1982) and Goldsmith's. AWoolworthdime store also served as a junior anchor next to JC Penney; after the Woolworth store closed in the 1990's, it was replaced with a twelve-screenmultiplex(that closed December 5, 2011).

Center Court Of The Mall

Initially the dominant mall in the Memphis area, Raleigh Springs Mall would lose several stores over time as newer malls opened, such asHickory Ridge MallandMall of Memphis.Hickory Ridge Mall, in turn, has lost most of its national tenants as well, while Mall of Memphis has been demolished; both of these malls lost most of their business to the newerWolfchase Galleria, which opened in 1997.

A Jewelry Store near front Entrance

By the 2000's, Raleigh Springs Mall had begun to lose many of its tenants. In early 2003, Dillard's announced that its location at Raleigh Springs Mall would be one of several stores closed that year.Goldsmith's parent company Federated Department Stores (now known asMacy's, Inc.), who was in the midst of significant corporate reorganization at the time, announced that the Goldsmith's location at Raleigh Springs would be shuttered by April of the same year.Finally, the JC Penney store (which had been downgraded to a JC Penney outlet center along with Dillard's) was closed as well, leaving Sears as the only anchor store.

Vacant Stores

Starting in 2005,Wal-Martbegan negotiations with Simon Property Group to open a Supercenter at the mall. These plans would call for the demolition of the former JC Penney space, as well as the mall's movie theater, to make way for the Supercenter. However, these plans never materialized, and Wal-Mart signaled its intentions of staying at its current location when it started renovating it in early 2010.

In January 2011, Sears confirmed that its location in the mall was to close on April 3, 2011.This left the Raleigh Springs Mall without an anchor store.

Demolition on the former J.C. Penney's anchor store at the north end of the mall began in November 2012 due to severe vandalism and break ins. Demolition on the vacant Sears automotive store occured May 2016. Demolition of the entire mall is occurring due to the city trying to take over the mall to make way for a civic center.

Tearing Down the J C Penny's Portion of the Mall

Crews are ripping down part of the Raleigh Springs Mall.

Back Door to newest Theater and the Foundation of J.C. Penny's looking toward Austin Peay

Demolition began Tuesday on the old J C Penney.

People familiar with how vibrant the Raleigh Springs Mall once was say it has been on life support for quite some time. On Tuesday, the plug was pulled on at least one part of the building.

"There was nothing left but to tear it down," said Juanita Jones, Raleigh Springs Mall manager.

Crime and copper theft has been all too common inside the mall's abandoned buildings in recent years.

Mall manager Juanita Jones is passionate about ridding the Raleigh shopping center of its negative reputation.

Closed Order Pick-up Area

Jones says the revitalization is a part of preserving those memories while creating new ones for future generations.

New stores, government offices, and a community college are all possibilities for the space. Jones says she has been meeting with city developer Robert Lipscomb and Memphis Mayor A C Wharton about rebirth.

Closed Sears Service Center

"I'm already talking to a huge, big chain about coming in here and building their store here," said Jones.

Raleigh residents like Donald Green say any change is welcome.

"Whatever they do is going to benefit me," he said.

"This community wants this mall. They need this mall," said Jones.

Side view of Closed Dillard's Store

Jones said the demolition of J C Penney should be complete by the end of the week. She says she is soliciting community support and anyone or any business interested can stop by the mall at any time.

Present Day:

The part of the mall that was the J C Penny's building has been demolished and all that is left of that portion of the mall is the foundation.

Closed Movie Theater by Demolished J.C.Penny's Building On Yale Rd. Side

All of the anchor stores have closed as well as the newer movie theater. All that is left in operation are a few small stores that are still in operation near the front entrance of the mall.

There are a few new stores that have been added to the community of Raleigh but for the most the area around the mall most of the building that surrounded it have been razed.

Outside Entrance To The Dillard's Store (Glass Front is covered up)

Jan. 17, 2003--The Goldsmith's store at Raleigh Springs Mall is scheduled to close in mid-April, leaving the mall with Sears as the only remaining full-scale department store.

Mall Directory

Goldsmith's parent, Federated Department Stores Inc., announced the closure Thursday, along with plans to close 10 other stores and cut 2,000 jobs.

Federated said it expects flat sales and earnings for fiscal 2003.

Looking From the J.C. Penny's Store toward center of Mall

Last month J.C. Penney announced it was closing its catalog outlet center at the Raleigh mall on Jan. 25, 2003.

A spokesman for mall owner Simon Property Group Inc. said it's too soon to say what will become of the store, which is owned by Simon and leased to Goldsmith's.

At Front Entrance by the Restrooms

Simon Property Group also owns Oak Court Mall and the Wolfchase Galleria, both of which have Goldsmith's stores.

Built in 1971, Raleigh Springs Mall was at the forefront of America's mall craze. It was developed by the former Edward J. DeBartolo Corp., one of the leaders of U.S. mall design and construction.

Goldsmith's Customer Pick-up Area

"It was a bell ringer," said Gary Myers, who was the mall's general manager from 1977 to 1980. "There was only Southland and Raleigh Springs for that kind of shopping experience. It commanded lots and lots of customers."

The Sears Customer Service Pick-up area

Myers, who now owns the Gary Myers Co., noted that many of Raleigh Springs' customers diminished over the years, drawn to the newer offerings out east. The loss of shoppers has resulted in a loss of occupancy.

"There's some small shops in there, trying to stick it out," Myers said. "They're leaking ever so slowly. They'll get to a point where it may not be worth it to keep it open. But, that hasn't happened yet.

Sears outside Entrance

"Over the long haul, I would expect their business maybe to diminish a little bit unless there's some other traffic generator on the property."

Goldsmith's Parking and second floor entrance.

As to what traffic generators could salvage the mall, those aren't known at this time. Repeated calls to the Raleigh Springs Mall and to Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc., which manages the mall, were not returned.

It all grown up and looking desolate now at the front entrance of the once beautiful Raleigh Springs Mall.

Monday, May 2, 2016

Loretta Lynn is arguably one of country music’s greatest legends of
all time. But there are a few things about the talented singer many
Americans don’t know.

I’ve always loved Loretta Lynn, but after learning a bit more about
her life, I must admit that my admiration for this incredible woman has
grown all the more.

In honor of Loretta Lynn’s 84th birthday last month (April 14), we’re
taking a look back on the humble and challenging beginnings of this
remarkable woman’s life.

Born on April 14, 1932, Loretta Lynn is an American country
music singer-songwriter whose work spans over more than 50 years. But
the “Queen of Country Music” hasn’t always had it easy.

Loretta was the second of eight children born to a poor coal miner
named Theodore Melvin “Ted” Webb and his wife, Clara Marie “Clary,” in a
small cabin in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky.

Loretta told Country Living, “My mommy and daddy had 8 kids, so there were 10 of us living in a small cabin in the mountains (pictured below). The
winters were cold, so my mommy glued newspapers and pages from old
Sears Roebuck catalogs to the wall to help keep the cold out. We didn’t
have money for wallpaper, but my mommy made that old house stay warm and
beautiful.”

To this day, you can visit Loretta Lynn’s humble childhood home, which is now maintained and preserved by Loretta’s younger brother, Herman.

Loretta was just shy of 16-years-old when she married 21-year-old Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn (aka “Mooney”) on January 10, 1948.

Their whirlwind romance was the definition of love at first sight.
The young couple tied the knot just one month after they first met.
Loretta’s life with Doolittle helped inspire the music she wrote.

One year into marriage the Lynns left Kentucky and moved to the
logging community of Custer, Washington, while Lynn was seven months
pregnant with the first of their six children.

Lynn’s hubby bought her a $17 Harmony guitar from Sears
& Roebuck when she was 18. Over the course of the next three years,
Lynn taught herself to play that little guitar.

Lynn began singing in local clubs in the late 1950s with the help,
insistence, and support from Doolittle. Eventually, the talented singer
started her own band, “Loretta and the Trailblazers.”

But despite Loretta’s undeniable talent, she wasn’t always
successful. Even when Loretta had her debut in Nashville, she and her
husband stayed in their car the night before because they couldn’t
afford a hotel.
After years of traveling the road and chasing her dreams, Loretta
finally made it big. On February 2, 1960, 28-year-old Loretta Lynn
signed her first contract and released a single entitled “Honky Tonk Girl.”
Sadly, Lynn’s beloved father wouldn’t live to see his daughter become famous; he died the year before her big break.

When she wasn’t writing music, Loretta had her hands full raising her six beautiful children.

The Lynns had three children by the time Loretta was 19; and by the
age of 20 she gave birth to their fourth child, Clara “Cissy.”

Loretta’s first song was written while she with her beautiful little family. Loretta shared,
“One day we went fishing. I don’t know why I just sat down and wrote a
song. But I remember being shocked that those lyrics just came pourin’
out of me.”

The beautiful singer had six children altogether with her husband, Doolittle:

How Loretta managed a successful career in addition to her very-full household, we will never know!

Loretta Lynn has received numerous awards for her groundbreaking role
in country music, including awards from both the Country Music
Association and Academy of Country Music as a duet partner and
individual artist. Lynn remains the most awarded female country
recording artist. Loretta has 16 No. 1 hits, and over 70 chart-topping
songs.

Loretta Lynn was a trailblazer in the music industry, paving the way for women across America.

In 2013, President Obama awarded Lynn the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, acknowledging her legacy of “courageously breaking barriers in
an industry long dominated by men.”

Obama awarded Lynn with the Medal and shared,
“Lorretta Lynn was 19 the first time she won big at the local fair. Her
canned vegetables brought home 17 blue ribbons and made her ‘Canner of
the Year.’ Now that’s impressive! For a girl from Butcher Hollow,
Kentucky, that was fame. Fortunately for us she decided to try her hand
at other things than canning. Her first guitar cost $17 and with it this
coal miner’s daughter gave voice to a generation, singing what no one
wanted to talk about and saying what no one wanted to think about. Now,
over 50 years after she cut her first record and canned her first
vegetables, Loretta Lynn still reigns as the rule-breaking,
record-setting Queen of Country Music.”

But despite her unparalleled success, Loretta Lynn hasn’t always had
it easy. And for many years behind closed doors, Loretta’s life was
almost anything but glamorous.

An unimaginable tragedy struck for the Lynn family on July 22, 1984.
It was on that fateful day that Loretta’s second child and eldest son,
Jack Benny, died tragically.

At only 34-years-old, Jack died
while trying to cross the Duck River at the family’s ranch in Hurricane
Mills, Tennessee. It was a heartbreaking a horrendous tragedy.

In a shocking interview with CBS Newsin
2002, Lynn revealed the heartbreaking details of her husband’s
scandalous affairs. Loretta explained that Doolittle would ‘regularly’
cheat, abuse her, and once even had the audacity to leave her while she
was giving birth.

Lynn and her husband fought frequently; Lynn choked back
the tears and forced a smile as she confessed, “[H]e never hit me one
time that I didn’t hit him back twice.” Adding that her marriage with
Mooney was “one of the hardest love stories.”

“I married Doo when I wasn’t but a
child, and he was my life from that day on. But as important as my youth
and upbringing was, there’s something else that made me stick to Doo.
He thought I was something special, more special than anyone else in the
world, and never let me forget it. That belief would be hard to shove
out the door. Doo was my security, my safety net. And just remember, I’m
explainin’, not excusin’… Doo was a good man and a hard worker. But he
was an alcoholic, and it affected our marriage all the way through.”

It’s beyond obvious that many of Loretta’s heartbreaking songs were
written thanks to her personal experiences throughout her roller-coaster
of a marriage. But despite her husband’s horrendous behavior, Loretta
never gave up on her marriage.

They’d been through hell and back, but Loretta’s whole-hearted
devotion to her husband shined through her lyrics. And slowly but
surely, Doolittle changed his ways.

Once while the couple was on a television show together, Loretta sang “Love Is The Fountian” to Doolittle as he held back tears, it was simply beautiful.

The couple was married for over 47 years when Doolittle passed away
in 1996. For the last several years of his life, Lynn spent many hours
caring for him due to his heart problems and complications from
diabetes. Eventually, Doolittle’s hearing and vision also failed.

“My husband was my priority, I’d sleep in a couch right
by the bed. If he made one grunt, I was awake. Not one move did he make
that I wasn’t awake. You know, I’d still be doing it if he was here.”

Lynn’s famous hit song “I’m All He’s Got (But He’s Got All Of Me)”
was dedicated to her husband after he passed away. And I could barely
hold back the tears as I heard Lynn’s powerful tribute to her late
husband.

“My daddy’s first cousin was a preacher, Elzie Banks, who
I wrote a song about. All of us kids would sing in Sunday school as
long as we could carry a tune. Gospel music and church is what I knew.
We knew Sunday school, and the preacher, Elzie Banks. We had church in a
little one-room schoolhouse that my great-grandfather built,” Lynn
said.

Loretta’s faith is made obvious throughout her lyrics. And over the years, Loretta has released three gospel albums.

Her hit song,“Ten Thousand Angels” is just one of Loretta’s powerful gospel songs that gives all glory to her Savior, Jesus Christ.

Time and time again, Loretta has unashamedly sung the
lyrics, “He could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world
and set Him free, He could have called ten thousand angels but He died
alone for you and me.”

There has never been, and will never be, a country music artist more influential than Loretta Lynn.

Thank you Loretta Lynn, for paving the way for women in America. Your
unwavering devotion to your family, unashamed faith in Jesus Christ,
and God-given talent is simply undeniable. America needs more women like
Loretta Lynn. Please share if you agree!

The Hernando de Soto Bridge is a through arch bridge carrying Interstate 40 across the Mississippi River between West Memphis, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee. Memphians also call the bridge the "New Bridge", as it is newer than the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge (carrying Interstate 55) downstream, and the "M Bridge", due to its distinctive shape. It is of similar construction to the Sherman Minton Bridge between Louisville, Kentucky, and New Albany, Indiana.

Hernando de Soto Bridge from Martyr's Park in Memphis

Namesake:

The bridge is named for 16th century Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto
who explored this stretch of the Mississippi River, and died south of
Memphis. His body was believed to have been buried in the Mississippi
River after his death (although, according to legend, his body lay at
the bottom of Lake Chicot in Arkansas, an oxbow lake of the Mississippi River about 130 miles south of Memphis.)Incidents:

On August 23, 2007, an inspector discovered that a bridge pier on the
approach bridge west of the river had settled overnight, and the bridge
was subsequently closed to perform a precautionary inspection. The
bridge was reopened later that day.

Bridge Illumination:

Hernando de Soto Bridge Illuminated At Night

At night, the bridge is illuminated by 200 sodium vapor lights along its
"M" shape structure. The bridge was first lit on September 5, 1986,
after $373,000 of private funds had been raised to fund the cost and
installation of the lights. Due to some river traffic having issues with
the lights at night reflecting on the water, the city installed a
remote switch to toggle the lights on and off briefly while the vessel
passes under the bridge. During the 2011 Mississippi River floods,
the bridge became dark for about 2 months because the transformers that
supply the electricity for the lights were removed to prevent damage to
them by flood waters. The bridge was re-lit in a ceremony which
occurred on June 21, 2011.Seismec Retrofit Project:

Crossing into Memphis on the Hernando de Soto Bridge

Since 2000, the bridge has been under a seismic retrofitting project,
which allows it to withstand a 7.7 magnitude earthquake. This is being
done since the bridge is located within the New Madrid Seismic Zone
and would not have been able to sustain that magnitude of an
earthquake. Work is being completed as funds are available. As part of
this project, the main span, approaches, and ramps for the downtown exit
are being retrofitted. A bridge about 1 mile west of the main span was
rebuilt with earthquake considerations. As the main span (the "M"
portion) is located entirely within Tennessee, the funding formula is
split 60%/40% between TDOT and AHTD. To date, $175 million has been
spent with another $80 million expected.

The Frisco Bridge, previously known as the Memphis Bridge, is a cantilevered through truss bridgecarrying a rail line across the Mississippi River between West Memphis, Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee.

Construction:

At the time of the Memphis bridge construction, it was a significant
technological challenge and is considered to be chief engineer George S. Morison's crowning achievement. No other bridges had ever been attempted on the Lower Mississippi River.

The bridge is built entirely of open-hearth steel, a newly developed
material at the time of construction. The structure features a 790-foot
main span and two additional 600-foot spans. Its 65-foot height above
the water was the highest clearance of any U.S. bridge of that era. The
construction of the piers went nearly 100 feet below the water's
surface.

Though some sources claim two cantilevered roadways were added to the bridge in the 1930's, one on each side, they probably confuse this bridge with the neighboring Harahan Bridge, which had two cantilevered roadways from 1917 until the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge
opened in 1949. Today, the Harahan Bridge still has the metal remains
of its cantilevered roadways; the Frisco Bridge does not. However,
pedestrians, buggies, and some automobiles used the main deck of the
Frisco Bridge before the Harahan Bridge opened (the bridge was closed to
such traffic while a train was crossing).

Construction for the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railway, later acquired by the "Frisco,"
began in 1888 and was completed May 12, 1892. In the end the project
created a bridge that was the farthest south on the Mississippi River,
featured the longest span in the United States and cost nearly 3 million dollars.

A testament to its design and construction, as of 2014 the bridge is still used by BNSF Railway. The bridge is listed as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

George S. Morison:

George Shattuck Morison (December 19, 1842 – July 1, 1903) was trained to be a lawyer, but became an engineer and the leading bridge designer of his time.

History:

Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, he was the son of John Hopkins Morison, a Unitarian minister. At age 14, he entered Phillips Exeter Academy and graduated by age 16. He went on to Harvard College where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1863 when he was just 20. After a brief break he attended Harvard Law School where he would receive a Bachelor of Laws degree by 1866 and was admitted to the New York Bar. In 1867, with only general mathematics training and an aptitude for mechanics, he abandoned the practice of law and pursued a career as a civil engineer and builder of bridges. He would apprentice under the supervision of engineer Octave Chanute during the construction of the first bridge to cross the Missouri River, the swing-span Kansas City Bridge.

He is known for many steel truss bridges he designed, including several crossing the Missouri River, Ohio River and the Mississippi River. The 1892, Memphis Bridge
is considered to be his crowning achievement, as it was the largest
bridge he would design and the first bridge to span the difficult Lower Mississippi River.
Morison was a member of several important engineering committees, the most important of which was the Isthmus Canal Commission. He was instrumental in changing its recommended location from Nicaragua to Panama.